In a continuing assault on free choice and state-church separation, religious groups in Massachusetts announce their oppostion to a bill which would permit citizens to purchase alcohol on Sunday.

irst it was Sunday parades, soccer games or other athletic events.

    Now, churches in Massachusetts are targeting a bill in the state legislature that would allow for liquor stores to open on Sunday. It's the latest round in what critics say is a growing battle over the status of the "Sabbath," which most (but not all) Christians happen to celebrate on Sunday. Increasingly, church groups throughout the country are demanding that state and local governments scale back as many activities as possible which, they say, conflict with religious celebrations and woo people away from their faith.

    The Massachusetts Council of Churches has come out in opposition to a bill which earlier this month cleared the Government Regulations Committee, and divided even retailers in the beverage industry. Nearly a decade ago, the state permitted communities bordering New Hampshire and Vermont to compete with retailers in adjacent states by selling alcohol to consumers on Sunday. The new legislation would permit sales throughout the state, but with local option. Some retailers express skepticism, saying that additional costs including extra help would quickly jeopardize any sales profit. Others see it as just having the state become part of the 20th century.

    But the Council of Churches has come out against the legislation. Rev. Diane C. Kessler defended the group's position, asserting, "We need in our a society a chance to change our pace and do it together, to take a collective deep breath." Another spokesperson for the American Baptist Churches lamented what she termed "a continuous erosion of Sunday being the day of rest," and cited examples such as "sports or store openings."

    That reference was to a controversy which erupted last summer, when the Massachusetts Council of Churches made headlines, and raised concerns from civil libertarians and First Amendments activists, by urging local governments and civic groups to avoid scheduling public events which competed with religious observances. In letters to their 1,700 members, the group urged that congregations take aim at practices such as parades, sporting events and activities which "interfere" or compete with Sunday religious activities. That action came on the heals of an announcement by New York's combative Roman Catholic Cardinal John O'Connor, who announced that he would boycott Major League Baseball because of game scheduling on Christian holidays like Good Friday. Citing what he said was a growing conflict between secular activities and church rituals, O'Connor asked, "Why is it religion which must always accommodate?"

   Most of the battles over Sabbatarianism -- laws mandating the closing of business, or the banning of other activities on Sundays -- were won by business owners taking their case to court, and local municipalities realizing that they needed the revenue generated by Sunday sales. Shifts in both American demographics and economic reality, including swing-shift work and the erosion of the typical five-day-a-week work scheduled, meant that stores needed to be open for sales to meet the growing numbers of consumers who did not consider Sunday to be "a day of rest." Shopping malls, and the growing culture of amusement and leisure time, sounded the death knell for Sunday blue laws at the turn of the century. Despite efforts by religious groups such as the Lord's Day Alliance, restrictions on Sunday commerce have been lifted nearly everywhere.

   Faced with this harsh reality, religious groups are now using a new ploy -- focusing their demands on the rights of workers who supposedly wish to observe Sunday as the Sabbath. Rev. Kessler told the Boston Globe newspaper that state laws currently make working on Sunday voluntary, and that employers must pay overtime to anyone working on that day. Even so, stores that do stay on Sunday are making plenty of money, and there is the consumer demand to justify a seven-day business week. Representative Daniel E. Bosley, (D-North Adams) who is a cosponsor on the new legislation says that fears of Sunday openings by some store owners will likely prove to be unjustified.

    But a numbers of communities are expected to continue with their discriminatory, religion-driven policy of banning Sunday commerce. Boston's powerful Roman Catholic community will likely opt for Sabbatarianism. The Globe notes that, "Not surprisingly, the most vocal opponents of selling alcohol on Sunday are religious groups."

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